Our Bible study . . . must be comprehensive. . . . Sporadic and haphazard dipping into the Scriptures is not enough. Nor must we limit ourselves to our favourite passages, or concentrate on the microscopic examination of a few key texts. Such selective knowledge and use of Scripture plays into the devil's hands. Every heresy is due to an overemphasis upon some truth, without allowing other truths to qualify and balance it. Biblical induction is the only safe way to begin theology, . . . but it presupposes a thorough knowledge of the diverse particularities of Scripture. . . .

As Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones has [written]: "All preachers should read through the whole Bible in its entirety at least once every year . . . That should be the very minimum of a preacher's Bible reading." . . . Nothing has helped me more than this to survey the rolling landscape of Scripture, and to grasp its underlying and recurring themes.

If we hope to help our congregation to develop a Christian mind, we have to develop one oursevles. And the only way to do this is to soak our mind in the Scriptures.

John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the 20th Century, (Eerdmans, 1982), 182-184.

[Are you on your way to reading through the entire Bible this year? Are you doing this very minimum? If not, how can you even hope to develop a Christian mind in your congregation? Begin following a reading plan today! Here are three good choices: Robert Murray M'Cheyne's plan (recommended by Stott on these pages); the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan (with daily readings from the Wisdom literature, other Old Testament, the Gospels, and other New Testament writings); and the Bible Unity Reading Plan
(two readings each day, one from a chronological track through the Bible, the second from the other Testament). May the word of God dwell in you richly! -- Coty]

[The quote from Lloyd-Jones is from Preaching and Preachers, p. 172. ]